I wish I were joking.
Last night, ten people were arrested at OccupyHouston. As this was a night raid, the quality of the camera footage is poor. Much of it was taken on cellphones.
Occupy Houston has been beset by problems. Though they live in one of the largest cities in the US, they're one of the smallest occupations. They've been camped at Tranquility Park, north of city hall, for weeks now. They've braved swarming mosquitoes, hot weather, waterfountains that barely work, and this week, dangerous thunderstorms that caused tornadoes in other parts of the county.
One of the protesters built himself a lean-to style structure to protect his belongings from the rain. A tarp descended from a wall at an angle, creating a cover. The police approached him, and told him that he could remove the tarp, or be arrested. He refused. Five other occupiers crawled into the lean to with him. They were all arrested.
Later, a protester attempted to cross the street. A patrol car blocked the crosswalk, so he was arrested for Jaywalking. As were three other people who crossed the street after him to ask for badge numbers. Here's the full video on that:
As you can see from these videos, the police refuse to give badge numbers. Among the three people arrested for crossing the street was Occupy Houston's legal counsel.
Thankfully, I have no reports of injuries at this time, and it looks like the Houston Police were civil in their behavior, though they enforced ridiculous laws. The reasons for these arrests are pathetic, but par for the course in Houston, whose "Civility Ordinance" illegalizes homelessness, making it illegal to sleep on sidewalks or construct shelters.
I'm expecting an e-mail from the Occupiers at houston. I'll update you with more information when I recieve it.
TheOther99 is committed to covering smaller Occupations. It's our mission to make sure that the whole world is watching our occupiers, no matter the size of the occupation. For too long, people in positions of authority have been able to count on a disinterested, lazy, news media. If our news companies wont do the job, we will. But we need your support to continue to do this work. Please contribute to our Ideas Lab, and make sure we have a place to do our work. If you want to know more about our situation, please read Jesse LaGreca's post, or send me a message here at Kos.
Crossposted at www.wearetheother99.com.